Important Clue in Tunguska Meteor Mystery
Nearly 100 years ago above an extremely remote area of Siberia a huge fireball exploded in the sky. The result was 800 square miles of forest being destroyed. Scientists have long thought that the cause of the forest destruction was the meteor that exploded in the sky. However, this is where the mystery has be perplexing scientists for years. On the ground scientists had yet to discover any remains of the meteor or any craters that could have been caused by an impact. That is until now.
It is still unknown weather the extraterrestrial object was a comet or asteroid, but the latest clue may unravel all of the Tungaska mysteries.
Only five miles away from what is believed to be the epicentre of the forest destruction is Lake Cheko. The lake is 164 feet deep and scientists now think that Lake Cheko was created from the impact of the meteor.
Credit for making this discovery goes to a group of scientists from Italy. One of the researchers from the University of Bologna, Giuseppe Longo, told SPACE.com, "When we looked at the bottom of the lake, we measured seismic waves reflecting off of something. Nobody has found this before. We can only explain that and the shape of the lake as a low-velocity impact crater."
The research team are now preparing for another trip to Lake Cheko where they will attempt to reveal whether the object was a comet or asteroid by obtaining a core sample.
To confirm for certain if the lake is the result of an impact Longo told SPACE.com, "To really find out if this an impact crater, we need a core sample 10 meters (33 feet) into the bottom.
Scientists are estimating that if they do find the remains of an asteroid of comet is could have a diameter as big as 30 feet and possibly weigh as much as 1,700 tons.
The Italian researchers are drawing both positive and negative support from their peers. Some scientists think that the physic of Lake Cheko don't quite add up. One scientist that has this belief is David Morrison. He says that previous impacts are more likely to cause a number of craters, one large main one and a number of smaller ones where other pieces of the object it. Harris thinks that it is unlikely that only one fragment had impact with the earth. Harris gave an example to SPACE.com, saying, "In 1947, the Russian Sikhote-Alin meteorite created 100 small craters. Some were 20 meters (66feet) across."
The return trip for Giuseppe Longo will be the events 100-year anniversary, the summer of 2008. Scientist will be eagerly awaiting any new information that the team uncovers.
Sources
SPACE.com's report on the new Tunguska information
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070626_st_tunguska_crater.html
Slatdot news clip about the Tunguska event
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/26/1917259
Published by Siun Griffin
I have been a freelance writer for several years. I enjoy writing about a variety of topics, particularly the environment, animals, entertainment, and travel. However, I don't limit myself to those topics, a... View profile
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5 Comments
Post a CommentThanks for reporting that...because I hadn't read it anywhere in the mainstream news. That research team will probably come up with even more questions as most of these expeditions do. But a lot of theories have persisted for years on what caused that explosion. Everything from a giant UFO colliding in air (similar to how Roswell happened)--and even Nikola Tesla's testing of his Death Ray possibly causing this massive explosion thousands of miles from where his famous tower was. That's been knocked down by most people though. I've also read that if it was a meteor (or comet)--it never hit the ground because it skipped along the atmosphere...hence causing explosions.
Very interesting
Hi Griff, Good job. My friends on planet XR7124 say this will get even more interesting. Wendy; There was nobody left to notice anything, just smoldering dust in the 800 mile radius for about 3 years.
This was fascinating. Good work!
It's an interesting possibility but I'm wondering why nobody said anything or appeared to notice that there was a new lake after the explosion. Thanks for the article.